The race was Verzbicas' second competitive outing since his near-fatal bike crash in July; he ran a 2.5-mile race on Thanksgiving. The crash in Colorado last July left Verzbicas with damaged vertebrae and a collapsed lung, and there was initial speculation that he might not walk again.

In 2011, Verzbicas became the fifth American high school runner to break 4:00 for the mile, and set the American high school record for two miles (8:29.46). In September 2011, he won the world junior triathlon title. He briefly attended the University of Oregon on a running scholarship that fall, but left to concentrate on being a professional triathlete.